Siteminder names top booking sites

BANGKOK, 12 February 2019: Siteminder, a
hotel guest acquisition platform, has identified in its latest research the top
12 booking channels for hotels in Asia.

Its annual report lists channels that
brought the highest total booking revenue to hotels in Asia and other top
travel destinations around the world in 2018.

Spreading across direct hotel websites to new third-party channels, the diversity reflects a rise in consumer choice that is forcing hotels to compete for business on more booking channels than ever before.

SiteMinder’s managing director, Mike Ford, said the increased diversity is also indicative of a booking landscape that has exploded in recent years and is showing no signs of slowing.

According to Euromonitor International,
global online hotel sales have surpassed USD264 billion to represent over 170%
growth in the last decade, including over 13% over the past year, alone.

“We found almost 20 instances of booking
channels making a first-time appearance in our lists. So, while the more
popular brands continue to dominate, we are seeing a broader range of players
emerging,” he said.

This trend reflects not only the ever-growing list of options now available to travellers booking their stay, but the subsequent need for hotels to be on more booking channels than ever to keep up with today’s endless paths-to-purchase,” said Ford.

Based on total gross revenue made for SiteMinder’s hotel customers in Asia, the top 12 booking channels in 2018 were:

Booking.com

Agoda

Expedia

Hotelbeds (incl. GTA + Tourico)

Hotel websites

Ctrip

Traveloka

Global distribution systems

Goibibo

Flight Centre Travel Group

Rakuten

HRS – Hotel Reservation Service.

“While the growth of travel both to and
within Asia presents opportunity, the sheer volume also presents hotels with
the challenge of acquiring business from a changing mix of potential guests,”
said SiteMinder managing director – Asia Glenn Andrews. “This marks the first
time we have combined country lists across the region into one, to reflect the
growing influence of the region’s most dominant players, including Agoda,
Ctrip, Traveloka, Goibibo and Rakuten.”

SiteMinder’s platform processed over 87
million online bookings in 2018 – a rate of 166 per minute. The bookings
totalled USD28.7 billion in revenue for its 30,000 hotel customers globally.